


Kingdom Of Dilemmas

by BlookLain



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angry Morality | Patton Sanders, Cussing, Gen, Mean Deceit Sanders, Morally Neutral Deceit Sanders, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prince Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Swearing, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, slight Manipulation, talking snakes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2020-05-13 11:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19250149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlookLain/pseuds/BlookLain
Summary: The King has died. Everyone knows what that means. The Prince will take the throne and will rule the land until he also dies like the previous one. That’s something to be excited about. Everyone dreams of being a King… Right? If so then, why was Thomas so nervous. So terrified.





	1. New King

The King has died. Everyone knows what that means. The Prince will take the throne and will rule the land until he also dies like the previous one. That’s something to be excited about. Everyone dreams of being a King… Right? If so then, why was Thomas so nervous. So terrified.

Before he was nothing. Well not completely nothing, he was an actor! Most from the kingdom knew who he was. They knew who was singing and yelling out dramatic lines from miles away. He enjoyed being on stage and seeing the smiles and laughs of the people watching. He decided to dedicate his whole life to acting. It was all he wanted. Not fancy titles or money that would take two life times to spend it all. He just wanted to make people forget about their everyday life and have a good laugh.

That changed soon enough.

The old king, when he was alive and young, heard many rumors about this said Thomas. The king, being young and curious, decided he would check him out himself. He wore torn clothes with a bundle of cloth on his back to mimic the look of an old man, and went to the town.

It wasn’t hard to find Thomas. People were running saying that the show would almost start and that they’ll be late. The king followed those people and stood anywhere he could to be able to watch the play. On that day, they decided to show a play based on a story from the neighboring kingdom. And to be completely honest, the king enjoyed it. More than what those useless clowns would do in the castle. They put effort into this play. They did the research and displayed it in a way that was fun to watch.

After it was over, he decided to talk to Thomas. He really wanted to know who this person really was. He wanted to see the person, not the actor. The king snuck backstage, throwing down the bundle of cloth that was on his back. He assumed that not many people knew his face, so he stood up straight and began searching for the actor.

Once found, he asked Thomas if he could give him some money in order to buy at least a piece of bread. Thomas stood there and offered the ‘street’ boy more than that. He gave him some new clothes and a meal. Thomas told him that he was welcomed here whenever he felt hungry. The king smiled and thanked him for his kindness and headed back to the castle.

 

Days later, Thomas had just finished a show when five guards appeared backstage. He was told to accompany them to the castle. He asked why but they wouldn’t say anything else, so he went along with it, fearing that he might end up dead.

The place was full of people. Everyone was staring at Thomas as he walked towards the throne, which only made with think that maybe, he was being put on trial. When Thomas saw who was sitting on the throne, his heart nearly stopped. It was the boy, or rather, the man he talked to a few days prior. The king stood up and announced the heir to the throne.

“Lords and Ladies, the man standing before you will be the next king. With some lectures and training he will become a great king. So, when my day comes to leave, please pledge loyalty to Thomas Sanders!”

And that’s how his already accomplished dream, became a dream again.

Thomas tried to talk it over with the king, but the king’s mind had already been made up. He had told Thomas that if he didn’t accept it, he would be sentenced to death for disobedience. With those final words, Thomas began his training.

Every single day without exception, he would have to train how to fight, read and learn everything about his and other kingdoms. Where they were located. Tradition. The way they acted. Beliefs. Food. Land. Stories. Emblems. The people. Their Government. Everything. They were trying to teach him things that he should have known when he was just a kid. Thomas was eighteen now they would have to cramp together fifteen years of lectures and training into five in order for him to be somewhat caught up. But could he do? If he said no, they would kill him without a second thought.

When word got around that Thomas was now the prince, people were either confused or excited. They would say how much of a generous king he would be, but others said that he wasn’t capable of being a king. He was just an actor. An entertainer. No one like that could ever be king. But his friends were the most confused. They were sure he had died. After all, they never received a letter or anything to indicate that he was okay or at least alive. They were also very surprised. He’s been gone for almost two months and now they’re being told he was going to be a king. What kind of shit was this? These things happened in stories, not real life. It was ridiculous. Why had their friend been taken away? How did they even know about Thomas? Either way he wasn’t with them anymore. They had to continue the show.

Five years later, Thomas had learned everything he had to so now they could move on. The king himself told Thomas to attend the meetings so that he could get an idea of how things would go. It went from who they were going to attack next, to who was going to be their next wine maker. This was all for Thomas to become a great king. A king he didn’t want to be.

The only good thing that happened in those five years was when he met the heir of a neighboring kingdom. The two became friends quickly and grew closer together after months of attending the same lecturing and training with each other. Joan, was their name. When they first met, Joan had told Thomas that they knew who he was. They explained how they once left their land in order to know about their allies and stumbled across a play that was happening in the middle of the city. What was up with this whole thing about royalty watching street plays? Either way, Thomas was surprised nonetheless.

Joan stayed in the kingdom for five months then left to another. And Thomas was once again, alone. They didn’t let him write to his friends, but what would he write about? How sorry he was for not being able to do anything? That if he said or seemed like he would leave they would kill him? Thomas couldn’t bring himself to write a letter and make someone sneak it out. Or maybe if he talked with the king, but Thomas doubted he would listen.

Years passed and now he had met more people. People who would also be rulers of their own land someday. Those people were the only ones that made all of this better. Knowing that he could work alongside them and for now, just have a little fun.

But then the day came. The king died at the hands of unknown murderer. A sword went straight through his heart and out the back. The people who helped the now dead king would die just the way he did after they complete all of their writings for the next person who would take their positions. Two day later, those people died with a sword through their chest and now, Thomas was going to be named the new king.

 

 

The King of Dilemmas.


	2. Throne

The day was now here. Thomas would be responsible for the lives of millions of people. One little screw up and everyone’s’ lives were in danger. If Thomas were to die, then all the people who helped him would be executed meaning that he would really have to take care of himself in order not to cause more deaths. So much shit to take care of. He was put under so much pressure. The weight of the crown could not be compared to the weight of the responsibility it had.

“Your Highness,” a soft voice called out, “it’s time for the coronation.” As fast as the voice appeared, it was gone.

Thomas didn’t even have the chance to answer before he was being led outside. Why outside? Obviously for the coronation. The gods had to witness it then they’ll approve by keeping the sky clear for three days or disapprove by bringing thunderstorms and lighting to the land. If that were to happen then the only thing they could do was choose a new king. No death this time so Thomas was praying to every single god, goddess, and deity there was that it rained like never before. He kept saying that he would never be a good king and would be the downfall of the kingdom. The people would have no food for winter and no warmth, but it seemed that the gods and goddesses didn’t think that would happen.

During the coronation, he met or more like saw, the people who would help him be a great king. One wore a dark purple cloak that hid his face. Another one was wearing a light blue overtunic and he had a bright smile on his face. The one next to him was a knight. Wearing iron armor with a red outline around the edges of it. The last one wore a navy-blue cloak but the hood was down, allowing others to see his rather cold stare.

Out of the four gentlemen, only one seemed to be excited for Thomas to be there. Navy blue guy didn’t seem all that happy and the knight seemed to be examining Thomas. Looking for any signs of doubt or maybe any harmful qualities, Thomas had guessed. The purple cloak man, even though Thomas couldn’t see his face, he could feel the uneasiness and distrust coming from the man. That only made the future king feel worse, even though it made sense. He shouldn’t be here swearing to protect the people of the land and give his own life to protect them if need be. But Thomas had no other choice. If the gods deemed him worthy, then it was all over for Thomas. If the gods didn’t like him though then, they would have to find someone suitable enough for this grand position.

 

Once the coronation was over, Thomas felt even worse. The anticipation was eating him bit by bit. The powers above would have their decision in three days and in those three days, he would be kept inside the castle at all times. Thomas wouldn’t be able to go to the garden or even stick his hand out because that would mean he’s planning on escaping and turning back on his word, and that would anger them.

So now here he was. Trapped in his soon to be castle and home. More specifically his room because well to put it short, he didn’t want to talk and see anyone that wasn’t his friends. The only upside of this all was that he had more time to read whatever he pleased. Even though it was quite hard to with so many thoughts going around his head, but he could still try to relax a bit. Just enough to forget about everything and go into another world.

That was soon cut short by a soldier knocking at his door and telling Thomas to go to the conference room. So now he had to put the book down and made his way down to where they needed him.

Once he got there, he could hear voices. He guessed that those voices were from the four men that he had seen in the coronation. Thomas stood there, listening to their conversation.

“He won’t be good enough for this and you know it Patton. Didn’t you see his face? He was full of panic and fear. How can a king protect his people when he himself can’t even at least act strong,” one voice said.

“Oh come on. Give him some time to get used to things! I’m sure that in no time he’ll be the great king his tutors told us he would be! No need to worry so soon.”

“Well, if he fails and dies, our whole existence would be erased so I can see why Virgil is so against him being the new ruler of the land. Also, he wasn’t raised in the castle and was brought here against his own will when he was eighteen so that would explain his uncertainty to become king. He also seems to be against it as well, but I doubt he’ll do anything that could harm himself and others.”

“Maybe that’s true star gazer, but I agree with necromancer over there for once. Thomas is having to many doubts and no matter what we try to do, it doesn’t work. He isn’t cut out to be king. At least, right now he isn’t. Thomas refuses to listen to me and in all honesty, that’s a big sign that he wasn’t made for this… No matter how much we want him to be and because of that I’m a no-name knight. A forgotten prince”

“That’s not true. Your name is Roman. Have you forgotten that?”

A sigh came from the loud knight. “Stop taking everything so literal Logan.”

“You three just have to give him a chance. Prince Thomas will be a great king! And it’s not up to us whether or not Thomas will be king or not. It’s up to the gods and goddesses. So, we just have to wait and see.”

“But what if they’re wrong again Patton? The last king was bad enough and if that happens again the kingdom is doomed. Thomas will be the one to blame and could be taken down. Now that I think about it, the coal for brains king should have been _taken down_ a long time ago.”

Thomas heard something slam against a table. “Don’t ever say that again, ex-princey.”

A sword could be heard being drawn from its holster. “Make me you damned wizard.”

And with that Thomas opened the door revealing himself. He saw the knight named Roman point his sword at, who Thomas guessed to be, Virgil. Roman looked over, putting his sword down and forcing himself to slightly bow his head at Thomas. Virgil stood still, staring at him while Patton and Logan bowed slightly.

“Hello, I apologize for taking so long. I kind of got lost.” Thomas lied. He didn’t want the others to know that he was listening to their conversation. So, this time it wasn’t bad to tell a white grayish lie.

They seemed to have believed it or in the very least, ignored it. They all said it was alright and proceeded to take their places at the table. Thomas sat down at the end of the table. Logan and Virgil to his right side with Roman and Patton to his left.

Patton cleared his throat. “Sorry for calling you out all of a sudden Prince Thomas. We wanted to formally introduce ourselves. Afterall, we’ll be by your side until death.” The smile in Patton’s’ face after saying ‘until death’ really unsettled him but decided to just smile back.

“Oh, well that’s nice of you. By the way, none of you have to call me ‘Prince Thomas.’ Just call me Thomas.” He smiled at them, with only one returning the gesture.

“Okay then! Logan you start!” Patton excitedly exclaimed.

“Very well then, I am Logan. I’m the Chancellor and the Intendant. I’m an officer of the royal household and I’m involved in the royal government that deals with domestic and foreign affairs and also hold a great deal of knowledge regarding laws. I shall give you advise in anything concerning energy, science, and culture. I am responsible for managing material, financial, and human resources of the royal, or more specifically the King’s household. Or rather, I will be once you are king.” 

Thomas was surprised and honestly impressed how can one person manage all of that?

“That’s a lot to handle. Are you sure you’ll be able to do all of that?”

“Of course. I’ve been trained my whole life to do that and more. But we’ll get to the rest once you become King.” Logan leaned back on the chair once he stopped talking. Indicating that there was nothing more for him to say on the matter.

Roman stood up, making himself be noticed. “I am Sir Roman. Knight of the castle. Loyal, generous, and courteous. Also, a prince! If you would allow me to be.” At the last part, his loud, proud voice turned into a whisper. He sat back down and allowed Patton to introduce himself.

“Patton here! I shall serve you as your adviser and right-hand man! I will guide and help you with anything you wish. Tell you when something could be done a better way and make sure you don’t lose track of yourself.” Patton’s’ bubble energy was so different from the others that Thomas really didn’t know how to deal with the sudden change. All he did was nod and smile back.

That seemed to be enough for Patton. He then turned to Virgil and excitedly told him to introduce himself.

Virgil stayed quiet for a minute. Examining Thomas once again with his stare.

“Virgil. Adviser and ‘Wizard’, as some like to call it. I’ll do the same as Patton and also curse anyone that you want to. Oh, and an herbalist. I have ‘magical’ plants that help sick people get better.” And with that he fell silent again. Only glaring at Thomas and occasionally looked over at Patton with a much calmer expression.

Thomas noticed something weird they all shared. None of them had a family name. No last name. Maybe they didn’t want to share it, but Patton said they were going to formally introduce themselves so shouldn’t they also include their family name? Also, why were the in charge of so many things? Didn’t that overwhelm them a little?

“Hey, can I ask you all a quick question?”

“Sure Pri-! I mean Thomas. Asking us anything.” Patton answered.

“What are your family's name? It’s alright if you don’t want to tell me. I’m just… Curious.”

“We don’t have family names. Actually, we don’t even have a family. The four of us were given these jobs when we were born. These are the things we dedicated our lives to and some thought that us having a family would only get in the way. So, we grew up surround by our mentors and occasionally seeing each other. We didn’t have names until we had the basics down, then we chose our own names. Before, they would call us by numbers.” Logan informed.

What Logan said made Thomas’s heart break. They grew up with no family and were named after numbers at first. They were treated like objects!

“That… Sounds horrible.” Thomas whispered.

Patton instantly replied. “It’s not as bad as it seems. We were treated well and even had a place to sleep. And we got to choose our own names! Not many kids get to do that.”

“But you were away from your parents. Your siblings. People that cared about you.”

“Not everyone has a loving family,” Virgil whispered, looking away from everyone. “Sometimes it’s better to not have a family at all.”

“Well that’s not true Virge. We are one! And the best thing is that we chose each other! Right Roman!” Patton turned to look at the knight.

“I never chose him,” Roman pointed at Virgil, “as a family member. Not even as a distant cousin.” Virgil hissed at Roman in response.

“Are there any other questions you would like to ask us?” Logan asked, changing the topic. Thomas took a minute to think. It wasn’t important, just plain curiosity.

“How did you all meet?”

Patton decided to answer this question.

A few years ago. We had to learn how to work with each other in order to be helpful and not cause too many problems in the future. We didn’t interact outside of our studies, but we got along just enough. Roman was rowdy and told is us to refer to him as ‘prince’. Logan was strict with sticking to the layout and Virgil tried to leave many times.” Patton laughed at the memories.

Thomas recalled Roman saying that he was no a forgotten prince. Was he the one who was supposed to take the throne? Why didn’t it happen? Even though Thomas didn’t have much say in the matter, he still felt guilty. It’s not like he stole the title or anything, Thomas wanted to get rid of it. He decided he would make it up to Roman somehow, if he was allowed to be King.

Roman crossed his arms and looked away. He was still mad about the whole thing after so many years, but it was understandable. Roman was probably more capable of the role than Thomas was, but why did they take away his status as a prince? Had he done something? It was too soon to start asking such a personal question, so he left it at that.

“Well, I don’t have anymore questions. What about you guys? You don’t really know me so ask whatever you want.” Thomas smiled, hoping their questions wouldn’t be difficult to answer.

“On the contrary, we know everything about you. We know that you were a street performer or actor before coming here. You were against it but continued to attend lectures and training because you feared that you would be executed. You made many friends along the way but lost your old ones from when you were an actor. You weren’t allowed to send letters to anyone other than people with royal blood. People thought you resented the king, but you just feared him. We have additional information but that would only take up more time than necessary.” Logan stated calmly. Looking indifferent like always.

Thomas was impressed and scared. How did they know all of that? He had never said anything to anyone, and he hadn’t noticed if anyone was watching him. If they had been watching him then they were darn good spies. Kudos to them but it was still kind of unsettling.

“Actually, I have a question,” Virgil spoke, “what makes you think you won’t mess everything up and bring this kingdom down with you? If you die, we die, so how can we trust you won’t die because of a fuck up?” Virgil became silent. Waiting for Thomas to give a reassuring answer. But Thomas didn’t know how to answer. He wasn’t sure of anything. He didn’t know how he would keep this kingdom up and going. What if was looking down on the side of the castle and then fell to his death. He didn’t know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter is rlly short so I thought adding this one would give you more of an idea of whats about. Hope you enjoyed it! Btw if you come across any triggers please tell me so I can tag them


	3. Trust

“I… I don’t know…”

Everyone stayed silent.

He… Didn’t know? That was unacceptable. Even if he wasn’t officially king right now what if he did turn out to be in the future. He just told the people who would help him that he had no way of being the Great King everyone was making him out to be. That only made Virgil furious and even more worried.

“You don’t know?! You had YEARS to prepare! YEARS of training and learning and you tell us that you have no idea how you will insure that this kingdom and its people won’t all die?! So many of them trust that you will do the right thing and help this place grow into something bigger! How the hell can you not know?!” Virgil was yelling loud enough for people in the hallway to hear. He stood up, waiting for Thomas to answer something. Anything! But Thomas was silent. Thinking of what he could say. Virgil was right. He had been training for this for so many years and all of that would go to waste if he didn’t put it to good use. Sure, he never wanted this, but now he had the chance to change things. Things that  filled Thomas with rage. So many unfair things. Disgusting, hateful, useless, and morally wrong things. Now, he had the chance to change it.

“You’re right. I’m fully prepared to take on the role of a king. I have been given the tools and opportunity and I will not let this go to waste. I shall take on this responsibility and make sure this kingdom and its people feel secure and fill it with abundance. I have been wanting to run away for so long and failed to, but I’ll stop running. My accomplishments were turned into dreams again and I can’t stop now. Even if I’m not accepted as the new king, I’ll be leaving with knowledge that most wish they could have. So, I ask all of you, to forgive my cowardliness and help me make this land into something greater. Something that people will remember in the years to come.” Thomas said, without a single ounce of hesitation or doubt in his voice. He still felt like it was all a bit too much and probably a lie to sooth him, but he was an actor and a good one at that. So, in order to gain their trust he must first appear secure and strong.

 

The four felt a little taken aback by the sudden change in character. Roman decided to give Thomas the benefit of the doubt as so did Patton. Logan and Virgil were still not fully convinced but said nothing as Patton stood up and bowed towards Thomas.

“We forgive you and we shall serve you until your end comes. Or ours you never know,” Patton straightened up and gave a warm smile to Thomas, “it’s okay to not know. To not be sure how to handle certain changes. I’m glad you acknowledge your fears and accepted them. We are here to help so you're not alone in this. Actually, this is all a bit terrifying to sudden have so much responsibilities shoved towards you, but we’ll handle it.”

“That’s great and all but he still isn’t our king, remember? We have to wait three days then he’ll either sit on the throne or be kicked out of the castle.” Logan informed them.

“If that happens would I be the heir again?” Roman sincerely asked. Hoping just a little that would be the case.

“Oh, I hope not. Having you as a king would be much worse than him.” Virgil pointed at Thomas.

Even though Thomas could be the next ruler, Virgil didn’t seem to care. Well he was a wizard and earlier said he could curse people so maybe that’s why. Either way, Thomas was sure that someday they would get along just fine. Something within told him things were going to work out just fine… Maybe who knows, many things can happen that could ruin everything but let’s push those thoughts back.

“Alright, we have introduced ourselves and settled all our doubts so I believe we can all go back to work on more important matters. Thomas, we’ll see you in the garden within three days. Be there by dawn,” Logan stood up, “and thank you for your time.” With those final words he left the room and disappeared from their sight.

Virgil also left without saying a word. Roman soon followed after bowing slightly at Thomas, leaving Patton alone with him.

Patton sighed, “I know they can be a little… Difficult. In reality, they aren’t bad at all. Virgil has a hard time trusting others, so does Logan but he’s more open with people. And Roman, well… As you know, he’s hurt because he couldn’t be a true prince. He has nothing personally against you. He’s aware that it's not your fault. Just, give him some time. Roman is a good guy,” Patton walked towards that door, “I’ll see you soon Thomas! I hope we’ll all get along!” He was then gone. Thomas stayed seated. Just processing again everything that they told him and what he told as well. Everything will work out just fine. He’ll have to gain the trust of Logan, Roman, and Virgil to be able make everyone work well together.

Just when Thomas was about to leave, two people walked into the room. A Priest and Priestess. They apologized for being so late and Thomas assured them that it didn’t matter. They talked for a while, going over certain rules, parts of the castle that only the three of them could go to, and that the higher beings seemed to be pleased with Thomas being the ruler. That made his little monologue with the others not a waste of time, so he felt more confident than before.

Thomas finally left after the others excused themselves. He wanted to relax for a while. After the eavesdropping and the conversation from earlier, Thomas felt oddly, confident. There was a voice at the back of his head saying that everything would work out that way it must. Or it might be Patton’s’ words echoing in his head, but he’ll take whatever to feel better. Even though three fourths of his helpers were somewhat against him, Thomas didn’t think they would go as far as killing or cursing him. Well, maybe Virgil but he didn’t seem to be capable of doing that… Right? Only time will tell.

As he was walking down to his room, Thomas noticed Logan down the hallway. Thomas had nothing better to do so he decided to follow the other, just to see what he was up to. He made sure not to be noticed by Logan and to be as quiet as possible.

They passed the soldiers that guarded the underground part of the castle. A different area that held old artifacts and rumored to be an archive. Once they were in the underground, it became increasingly difficult to stay quiet. The echo was loud, so Thomas tried to time his steps with Logan’s’.

He wasn’t sure what Logan was doing in these parts of the castle. There was nothing here that was part of Logan’s’ job so then, why was he here. From what the Priestess and Priest told Thomas, only the three of them were allowed down here, so how come no one stopped Logan. The soldiers didn’t even glance at Logan, but they did greet Thomas. Did they just not notice him? That was very unlikely, even though Logan was quiet you could still feel his presence. So… What the hell?

 

They were far in, but Logan seemed to not notice Thomas following. He took a turn and Thomas followed only to bump into something and fall.

There he was. Staring down at Thomas with his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face.

“Why have you been following me? You could be using you time more wisely by doing a multitude of things like learning another language, studying more, planning for the future, organizing your room, or meeting the people that you will soon guide.”

Thomas, before answering, stood up and padded off whatever dirt got on him. “Well I couldn’t think of anything to do and saw you walking around so I thought about seeing what you were up to!” He smiled, hoping it would make things a little better.

Didn’t work. Logan just glared and sighed, adjusting his glasses.

“If you wanted to know you could have asked. There’s no need to be going around following people. Have they not taught you common sense in these past few years?” Logan really did look rather puzzled. He was concerned about whether or not they had taught Thomas common sense. That would make Thomas chuckle, but if he did Logan probably wouldn’t act as nice.

“No, they did but when I saw you coming down here, I thought it was strange. From what I have been told, only me and two other people have access to this area and your job doesn’t require you to be here. There’s ancient artifacts and possible an archive,” Thomas paused for a moment thinking, “are you trying to find it?”

Logan stayed silent. Should he tell Thomas the truth of his being there. He pondered for a moment. He didn’t think Thomas would blabber to others about this, but he couldn’t risk it. Even if Thomas promised to not tell anyone, how could he trust him? Logan can’t risk it. Now is not the time.

“I’m sorry but I can’t answer your question truthfully for now. Once you are king and have enough knowledge about us and your position here, I’ll be able to tell you. Please wait until then.” Logan left. He couldn’t do anything with Thomas there following him. This would have to wait a little longer than planned.

 

Thomas didn’t try to stop Logan. Something was being hidden down here and Logan didn’t want to tell him. That made Thomas feel unsettled, but he couldn’t do anything about it now. He’ll have to wait until the time comes.


	4. All Hail

People were cheering. Some were doubtful but didn’t complain. Others just wanted a reason to drink and play music until they could see the sun. And all Thomas wanted was to get some more sleep before the coronation.

Three days have passed with not a single drop of rain. There were barely any clouds during those days, which meant that the high beings approved of Thomas. That really made the little speech that Thomas made to the others worth it.

In these past two days he didn’t see Virgil, Patton, and Roman. Not because he wasn’t allowed, they were just hard to find. Thomas would walk around the castle trying to find them, but they were nowhere to be found. Virgil was probably out picking out herbs and Roman out training with the rest, but what about Patton? Thomas could imagine Patton picking out berries to make a pie, but surely that wasn’t the case. Why would he waste time on that? Patton had more important things to do… Maybe? Thomas had no idea. Either way, Patton wasn’t in the castle.

Thomas didn’t see any of them until after the crown was put on his head. They were out in the garden again, with very few people around. The Priestess and Priest, a few guards, some royalty, and his helpers apparently. They were all the way back, barely visible, close the garden doors. As quickly as Thomas saw them, they were gone. Maybe they just didn’t like attracting attention, so they decided to stay back. Whatever the reason, it didn’t really matter.

The rest of the day, everyone in the castle was settled in the grand hall having a huge feast. The music from the kingdom could be heard over all the way to the castle. Thomas wasn’t sure why people were so excited. Well, it gave them a reason to celebrate, something that didn’t happen often for them. If that made them happy then who is he to complain.

Once the celebration was over, Thomas headed to his now official room. The day didn’t seem to come to an end but thankfully it did. He was never one for social gathering or big parties. That just stressed him out. He would have made it through it without forcing himself if his friends were there. Obviously, they couldn’t be there. They had other things to attend to and many, MANY, things to work on. Thomas couldn’t force them to attend an event that he, himself didn’t want to participate in. They would get to see each other some other time.                                        

 Thomas expected his room to be dark and empty, but the candles were lit and Logan, Patton, Roman, and Virgil were there. Seeing them would have been good any other day but in that moment, Thomas wanted to throw them out of his room. He didn’t want to be rude though, so he told them to sit wherever they wanted.

“Well first of all,” Patton said. “Congratulations on becoming King, Thomas! I hope you live a long, happy life and be remembered in the years to come!” He smiled widely and grabbed a goblet.

“Yes, congratulations. Long live the King.” Roman grabbed his own goblet and took a big gulp.

“I’m glad about the outcome. Out of everyone here in the castle, you weren’t the best but still a good choice in order to make this kingdom prosper.” Logan said as he crossed his arms.

“I would have been a better choice.” Roman whispered low enough for no one to hear.

“Now let’s hope you won’t mess up and bring this place down to hell, or to the hands of our enemies.” Virgil took a sip, putting down his drink quickly.

Thomas was confused to say the least. Were they here just to say ‘congrats’? They could have done that earlier or even the next day, not at this hour of the night.

“Thanks, but why tell me all of this now right when I’m about to go to bed. You had all day to talk to me.”

They all fell silent. Thomas was tired and wanted this to end as quickly as possible, so his patience was very low.

“Answer me or don’t, but I just need you all to finish this up soon so I can rest.”

“We don’t like other people seeing and talking to us. We’ve never interacted with others before. We were always cooped up in our rooms studying. They have gotten used to us never talking so now they ignore or presence.” Logan decided to give a brief answer to clear things up.

Thomas thought it was strange, but that did explain why the soldier completely ignored Logan the other day. Well, at least that was finally answered.

“Oh, well now I get it, but is there anything else you would like to tell me. I doubt you guys broke into my room and waited for me just to congratulate me. What’s going on?”

Patton hesitated. They were there for a reason, but he just didn’t know how to tell Thomas. The information might be too much for Thomas. Patton hated keeping secrets and lying, but in this situation, he would have to keep it to himself.

“Nope! That was it. We wanted to wish you luck that’s all.” Patton’s smiled didn’t reach his eyes, filled with uncertainty, which made Thomas doubt his words.

Thomas didn’t want to start questioning them any longer. He just went along with what Patton had said. He thanked them all and locked the door once they were all out of the room.

The three of them walked down the hallway to their rooms, wondering why Patton had decided to keep silent about the matter.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Roman questioned.

“I don’t know. No, I do know. It’s just… It’ll be too much. He won’t believe us and wave it off as nothing but a joke. And…’ you know who’ thinks the same.”

“Well, ‘you know who’ can shove it up. Thomas needs to know this. If we let any more time pass, this will only get worse.” Virgil was on edge. They had decided to tell Thomas as soon as possible. They couldn’t wait any longer or things would only get worse.

“If that snake doesn’t want Thomas to know something, he can and will keep our mouths shut. We’ll have to wait until Thomas is open enough to accept it,” Roman said in a serious tone, something that wasn’t so normal for him.

“Did he force you to keep quiet?” There slight concern in Logan’s’ voice, which made Patton instantly respond.

“No, I decided myself to not say anything. We’ll have to do what Roman said. We’ll have to wait.”


	5. The Prince

The next day was much, much calmer than the previous one. The hype died down and now things were back to how they used to be. The only difference was Thomas’s position in the castle. Which in reality, wasn’t as impactful as he thought it would be. Just more responsibilities and more greetings from the people he would pass by in the hallway. Not much has changed and Thomas was grateful for that. At least he was still in a familiar setting.

Thomas was on a quest to gain Virgil’s’ and Roman’s trust. Those two were not so keen on him being king so Thomas wanted to at least try and get along with them. He wanted everyone to work as a team in order for all of them to function correctly. Maybe Logan could help him make a plan that would work. But maybe he won’t. He had other things to do that were more important than teamwork so Logan wouldn’t be all that helpful. Patton would help without a doubt, but would he be the best person to ask for help about this type of thing? He is very friendly and seems to get along with everyone so maybe he is the right person. At least that’s what Thomas thought.

As he was walking down the hallway to the library, feeling that Patton could possibly be there, Thomas spotted Roman in the courtyard. Roman was sitting down with his sword by his side. He was drawing, or perhaps, writing in a small journal, trying to put words down on paper as quickly as he could. Roman didn’t look away from the journal. Completely absorbed in his head. In his own world.

Thomas got a little closer, not wanting to disturb Roman, and watched him scribble down words. His writing was very messy, possibly because his mind was going faster than his hand. Thomas couldn’t tell what Roman was writing. It could just be about his day or a story with deep plot and complex characters. The second choice seemed to be the answer. Thomas highly doubted that Roman would be as excited to write about what he did that morning.

He waited until Roman was out of his daydream to be able to have a little chat with him. In all honesty, Thomas would have never pegged Roman for a writer, so he was surprised to see that.

Once Roman got back into the real world, he noticed Thomas sitting next to him, playing around with a plant next to him.

“Since when were you there?” Roman said with clear confusion in his voice.

“A while, but I didn’t want to interrupt you,” Thomas shifted his focus to Roman.

“Oh, sorry to keep you waiting then. Is there something you need from me? Do you want me to get rid of a dragon?”

“Uh no, not yet at least. I wanted to talk to you. Have a conversation you know, to get to know each other. I’ve noticed you don’t really like me all that much, so I wanted to settle that in order for us to work together efficiently. If that’s alright with you.”

Roman chuckled. “You are the King. I’m alright with whatever you like, Your Majesty.”

For some reason, the way Roman said. ‘Your Majesty’ made Thomas frown. “I’m not talking to you as a king. I’m talking to you as an acquaintance. As a colleague. We will have to work together from now on, so I just want to-”

Roman interrupted Thomas. “Work together? When exactly? I’m a knight. I’m not your intendant! Your advisor or your personal wizard! I’m not even a constable! I have no direct relation to you. The only reason I ever talked to you was because Patton was being so persistent on me and the others to do so. Even when we did, nothing got sorted out the way it had to,” Roman got quieter, almost to the point of a whisper. “It was a waste of time. Nothing will get sorted out until you start listening and stop denying. The fact that I’m still creating and fighting means you still…” the rest of inaudible.

“I still what? Until I stop denying, what? Roman, what are you talking about?”

He hesitated for a moment. Pondering whether to tell Thomas or not. The others were probably going to get mad, but if he was able to tell Thomas then that meant he was ready for the truth. If that snake shut Roman up, then everything would still be okay. Fuck it, Roman would have to give it a go.

“You were forced to give up one of your dreams of acting and creating when you were brought here. You accepted the fact that you would never go back. You missed it, sure, but you had other aspirations. Ones that you thought could never come true and when they did, you refused to accept them. The impossible was now possible and yet, you decided try and run away from it.  Thomas, I can’t work with you if you keep denying those things.” Good. Everything was going well. His mouth hadn’t been slapped by his hand so that meant Roman was on the right path.

The only problem was that Thomas was not getting it. He was confused and couldn’t connect the two together. Well, who could? All of it would be a huge mind-fuck for anyone.

“What does me not wanting to be here, have to do with you? I barely met you a few days ago and I’ve been trying to talk with. I haven’t been pushing you away, actually it’s quite the opposite.” Thomas didn’t know where Roman was going with all of this. He was right about the first part, but what did that have to do with anything? Roman was just bringing up useless things that weren’t true.

“Thomas I’m your-” his mouth shut. Too much information.

“Okay, let me try again. I’m in charge of your-” interrupted again. Too much information.

“I’m getting sick of this. Okay, just let me think for a moment. Oh! I got it! Thomas, I’m part of-” once again, his mouth shut.

Too. Much. Information.

That made Roman furious. He was getting tired of being shut up so much even though he was trying to help Thomas understand what he was talking about.

“For fucks sake! In what way do you want me to say it?!” Roman shouted.

Thomas had no idea who he was talking to. It looked like Roman was the one interrupting himself, so who was he yelling at? Himself? Probably that would make a lot more sense. Unless Virgil was messing with Roman from afar.

Meanwhile, Roman was getting frustrated. He couldn’t think of a way to indirectly tell Thomas what he was trying to say. He thought of every way to say it, but he could faintly hear that man’s low laugh, making fun of Romans’ attempts. But it stopped. Roman had thought of something that would work. He would use one of the stories Thomas wrote very often, but with his own twist.

“I’m a creator. A dreamer! I make stories and at times, act them out! I write about dreams and all the things the future holds. Years ago, I wrote a story about a kid. This kid had many hopes and dreams that seemed as far as the sky. He thought of ways to reach them. Maybe he could get people to make a human ladder and help him reach. Or talk to one of the birds and ask if they would take him with them.

So, the kid talked to family, friends, and neighbors, but they all made fun of him or just laughed.

‘What an imagination,’ they would say.

Not wanting to be made fun of anymore, he decided to talk with the birds. They all flew away when they saw him approaching. He tried yelling at them, but it didn’t work.

He gave up. He could never reach his dreams. Until one day, the clouds flooded his neighborhood.

The sky fell for him. The clouds hugged him like a blanket. His dreams could now come true! They were surrounding him and let him see what the future would be like for him. He saw people dressing up, putting paint on their faces. Pages filled up made up worlds and people beyond a curtain sitting down.

He saw himself. In front of those people. Saw the way others would join him and how they would start acting with him. He could hear the cheers and feel the smiles.

He turned around to see more, but the vision changed.

He saw himself as an adult. Sitting at the end of a table with other people on the edges. Clothes that were worth more than ten live times. The image changed and revealed him sitting on a throne with a crow full of different colored jewels. He was a king! The people respected him for enchanting the land and bringing wealth and good health.

He took a step to the side, wanting to see more of this future, but what he saw, was a future surrounded by darkness...”


	6. The Knight

Roman paused, looking down in what looked like remembrance. As if he was recalling a distant, locked up memory. His brows furrowed, lips closed into a thin line, and eyes filled with an assortment of repugnance and desolation.

“Darkness surround the man in the vision. His eyes stained, mouth sewed enough for him to murmur, and hands chained up. He was sitting on a broken throne. Whispering to himself what could have been. Reliving all the good times but ignoring the reality in front of him.

 The stained glass behind him was broken, but a bright light was illuminating the man. He couldn’t see it and refused to acknowledge its warmth. He stayed seated. Letting time go by. Filling the silence with his own whispers of a time long passed. 

The kid was will with fear. That was something he wished never happened. When he tried to wipe away the image, it turned into the man again, this time with blood stained hands. 

He ran.

He didn’t want to see those visions. It wasn’t something he could face. So, he went with the closest one he could make a reality. The boy was going to go with safest route out of all of those.”

Thomas wasn’t sure where Roman was going with all of this. A story about a kid who saw different realities of his future and went with the most realistic one. Was that supposed to apply to Thomas?

However, he could sympathize with the kid. Seeing yourself at your worst from an outside perspective must be a terrifying experience to have.

Something didn’t fit though. Why did Roman tell Thomas to stop denying? Deny what? What did that have to do with Roman not being able to work with him?

“That’s a nice and unsettling story Roman. What does it have to do with you? Were you that boy? Am I supposed to be the man in the broken throne? What does denial have to do with anything?”                                                                                                                                                                  

Thomas was still not getting it. That only made Roman get even more frustrated than before. He wasn’t such a patient guy and had trouble with it at times but right now wasn’t the time to lash out. Things would only get worse.

“Thomas, you are the kid. You are the actor, the king, the failure, the murderer. I’m the cloud. The one who showed you those dreams. I’m the one who pushed you to audition for your first play. I’m in charge of your acting. Your singing. I’m the one who made you ask that guy out. I’m in charge of the dreams. Hope. The fanciful side. The one with aspirations that reach and go beyond the sky.” Roman had hoped that would be just enough to make Thomas understand.

“So you’re… like a combination of Ptah and Hathor?” Thomas did not understand.

“No that’s not what I am! And why did you go all the way to Egypt?”

“Their gods and goddesses are interesting.”

“Okay whatever, that’s not the point. The point is that I’m creativity! Your creativity!” Roman said it. He was able to finally say it. Did that mean Thomas was getting it? Was he open enough to hear it?

“My creativity? That... doesn’t make any sense. How could I be talking to the embodiment of my creativity? That doesn’t… it doesn’t…” It made sense. Ever since Thomas began living in the castle, he pushed down his creativity. All his hope was gone. His dreams shattered and he doubted he would find someone that would ever love him. Someone he could love back. He wanted to be king. He wanted to the King. Fear was holding him back Roman represented all of his dreams. And now Roman was mad at him because Thomas kept pushing him away. Pushing his dreams away. It made sense. How could it make sense?!

“You’re me. You represent parts of me. But how can I talk to you? How can you move freely around the place without me knowing? How did you appear? How come I never realized this?” Thomas was freaking out. He had so many more questions than before. How had all of this happened?

Roman stood up. “Let’s go to Logan. I’m sure he can answer some of your questions.”


	7. The Sides

“You told him?! We all agreed to tell him together and now the plans are ruined. I’ll have to start all over because of you.” Logan wasn’t so happy. He was going over some papers when Roman and Thomas appeared. When Roman told him what happened, he flipped his shit.

“We need Virgil and Patton here. We’ll explain everything once they get here.” Logan said.

“I’ll go look for them. Or,” Roman looked over at Thomas, “you could summon them.”

“Summon them? What are you talking about? I’m not a wizard. Virgil is.”

“You aren’t a wizard, but you are in charge of us. If you want to talk to one of us, you simply have to think or feel one of our functions or just call our names.” Logan stated.

Knowing that information a few days ago would have been useful, Thomas thought.

“Alright I’ll give it a shot. I’ll just call out their names,” he took a deep breath, “Virgil! Patton!”

Virgil appeared with a leather notebook and whispering what the book said. He stopped once he noticed where he was. Patton popped up with a rabbit in his arms.

“The hell am I doing here?” Virgil looked over at Logan. In response, Logan glanced at Roman.

“Hi Virgil! Hi Thomas!” Patton put down the rabbit and let it hop away.

Virgil glared at Roman. “Did you tell him about what we are? We all agreed to wait. Why did you tell him?”

“I only told him about myself and he was ready to accept it! The fact that I could say it at all meant Thomas would finally be able to know the truth and work with us. This should be a good thing so why are you and Logan mad?” Roman didn’t get their point of view. This was a good thing. Thomas finally knew about them. They could stop hiding.

“We are upset because you didn’t talk to us first. You should have waited for all of us to be there. We all planned out to tell Thomas in a way that wouldn’t make him question everything.” Logan said.

Thomas was in fact, questioning everything at that moment, still trying to figure out how all of this happened. When it happened.

“Exactly! Now look at him,” Virgil said pointing at Thomas’s confused face, “he’s completely mind fucked.”

“Now Virgil, no need to use that kind of language,” Patton then turned to Roman, “They’re right Roman, you could have told us before hand or while it was happening. It would have been easier on Thomas.”

“Oh, alright so you all of you wanted me to continue to lie to Thomas? I thought you said it was wrong, Patton.”

“I know what I said, and I still believe it’s wrong, but Thomas should have heard that information from all of us,” Patton sighed, “right now it’s not the time to be fighting. We’ll talk about it later but for right now, let’s explain everything to Thomas.”

“Yes, please explain how all of this happened. How can I see you? I’ve talked and argued with myself before, but never like this!” Thomas exclaimed.

“You’ve been fighting with yourself long enough to see parts of yourself as physical human beings. Let me remind you, we aren’t. We are different aspects of your personality. A personification of them. For example, I am your logic. That’s not all I do but listing everything would take more time than necessary.” Logan stated.

“Okay then, what about the Patton and Virgil?” Thomas asked.

“I’m your morality, your feelings, your love for jokes, and that’s pretty much it! Oh, and your sense of right and wrong.” Patton smiled.

Virgil stayed quiet for a little while before responding. “I’m your fears, worries, and anxiety. I’m the one who blows the trumpets when something could go wrong. As you probably know, I didn’t want you to become king because there are many things that you could mess up. That just adds pressure and stress that are hard to deal with.”

Thomas processed everything for a moment. He was talking to himself, but at the same time he wasn’t. It didn’t feel like he was anyways it just felt like a normal conversation. As odd as that may sound, it did help Thomas see things in a better perspective. Being able to talk to the different aspects of himself, could help him figure out his problems in a better way. Or at least that’s what Thomas thought.

“Okay, so I got my Logic, Morality, Creativity, and my Anxiety, all talking directly at me. You are not separate human beings just, personifications of those things. By arguing with myself so much, I created you… Alright so far so good. Quick question though: How do I get you back in my mind?”

“We are in your mind. Well, we are and aren’t. People can’t see us if you don’t want them to. We can also take your place only if you want that to happen. By that I mean, we will be enhanced which will then affect how you think and/or act. For example, if you were to enhance me, you wouldn’t make decisions based on your feelings or worries. You would use logic and reasoning to make those decisions and not listen to or rely on the rest.”

“Noted. I still don’t really get why Roman hated me if he is part of who I am. I get that I was neglecting or ignoring him to some extent, but he wanted me to chase after another dream that I had and hoped would happen when I was a kid. Why didn’t he forget about that one?”

“That’s because when you were younger, you would dream of becoming king and that thought stayed with you. When you finally had the opportunity, you rejected it. That led you to denying most of the things that Roman represents. If you would have been okay with being the next Ruler, Roman wouldn’t have felt that way.” Logan responded.

“That was one of my dreams, but I stopped thinking about it once I grew up. You are right about the fact that I stopped doing a lot of things I was passionate about. Here’s what I don’t get: if I stopped wanting to be king, then why was Roman still hooked up on that dream?”

“Like I said before, that stayed with you up until adulthood. Even when you knew there was no way for it to happen, you still wished that somehow, you would be able to change things. Once you got into theater, those thoughts were only intensified and when you had the chance to finally make an impact, you tried to back down from that responsibility. Roman and Patton tried to push you into accepting it, but Virgil and I thought differently, which made you have contradicting feelings on the matter.”

“That does make sense,” Thomas paused for a moment, “I was more on the ‘screw this, let’s leave’ side, but I did have times that I just didn’t mind. I just had to accept it and move on. Obviously, that didn’t really happen until the coronation though. Just one more question. When the four of you introduced yourselves, you said you had specific jobs. If all of you are in my head, then how exactly are you going to get those jobs done?”

“Your tutors taught you the different kinds of jobs done here in the castle. We applied those jobs as things we do in your head. Obviously, not everything is an exact association with what we do and the list of jobs that we gave you but it’s close enough. Roman was the one who came up with the idea of using those professions to keep our cover. However, we can’t really do anything on our own. We can’t move things in the physical world, and we can’t communicate with real people. Even now we are in your head.”

“Wait, if this is all going on in my head right now then, where am I?!” Thomas exclaimed.

Roman chimed in, “Well, you passed out in the courtyard. By now someone should have found you and taken you to a healer or your bed.”

“What?! I fainted?!” Thomas was about to completely lose it and flip his entire shit, but Patton was trying to prevent that from happening.

“No! Well, yes, but you’re okay. The people in the castle are good people!” Patton was desperately trying to think of things to make everything better. And Virgil was only making things worse.

“Not everyone here is good! What if one of them kills Thomas so that they can rule the kingdom?! There has to be someone here who doesn’t like him!” Virgil shook his head, listing off more possible ways of how they would get rid of Thomas.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, I’m going to die!” Thomas grabbed his head and closed his eyes, trying to make himself wake up before he really flipped his shit. Once he realized it wasn’t working, he turned to Logan.

“How do I wake up!? I can’t be here any longer!” Thomas said with a panicked voice.

Logan let out a breath, “Thomas, you won’t die so calm down and listen. You won’t wake up until we’ve settled a few things. Take a minute to relax so that we can continue with this talk.

Thomas was once again going to freak out but stopped himself and took a deep breath. He had to get through this in order to go back to the real world. Perhaps, Thomas slept in and everything had just been a dream. Once he woke up, everything would be like before. But he had a feeling that wasn’t the case. Had he been hallucinating the other four, for days? No that couldn’t be it. Hallucinating for that long meant that he was either poisoned, cursed, or crazy. What if these past days have only been a dream? Maybe he somehow hit his head and now living in a world that his mind created. That could be possible… Right?

“Thomas, I need you to focus,” Logan said. He knew just how much of an effect Virgil had on Thomas, which meant Logan and Patton had to kick in at times in order for Thomas not to be so overwhelmed. Even Roman could be affected at times.

“Okay,” Thomas took another deep breath, “what else do we need to go through? You already explained to me who all of you are and how you came to be. Is there still more we have to talk about?” And then it hit him. The day Thomas was following Logan around the castle. The Underground.

Patton was also hiding something from Thomas. The day of the coronation when they were all in his room. Patton started to act strange when Thomas questioned him about why they were there. They all knew something Thomas didn’t.

“You two are hiding something from me,” Thomas said as he looked over at Logan and Patton.

“Well, you aren’t wrong about that,” Patton whispered.

Logan looked down thinking and nodded. There was still a few more details that Thomas needed to be aware of. Whether he could tell him or not, was not up to Logan.

“So then? Why don’t you tell me what is it that you’re hiding? I mean, you are part of me so why can’t you just tell me?” Thomas asked.

“Because it’s dangerous,” Virgil responded, eyes looking at the ground.

“Dangerous? How?”

Roman sighed, “It’s not dangerous. It’s more… Unsettling, to say the least.”

Thomas was getting worried and a tad frustrated. What could possibly be so dangerous or unsettling to the point that they couldn’t tell him. What was stopping them?

“Logan, I won’t be able to wake up until we settle a few things, right?”

“Correct.”

“Okay so, I need the four of you to answer one question each, yeah? Alright I’ll start with you Patton,” Thomas turned his body towards Patton, “ on the day of the coronation, you were all in my room and when I questioned you about it, you seemed to get uncomfortable. Why?”

“Well, uh, we were going to let you know who we are, but you were tired, and I thought it wasn’t a good moment to have this talk. You would have taken it as a joke…” Patton whispered the last sentence, almost not wanting Thomas to hear it.

Thomas nodded slightly, “I mean, yeah. I almost thought Roman was messing with me when he told me. But anyways, Roman, are we good?” Thomas looked over at Roman with a worried expression, even though he tried to hide it.

“Yeah we’re good. I guess I was just a little upset about… all of that. But we’re good now! I will assist you with anything you want!” Roman bowed slightly with a big smile on his face. He would do his best to help Thomas be the best king in all the land!

Thomas returned the smile before turning to Virgil, “can you tell me what’s so dangerous for me to know? You are all part of me, right? So why can’t any of you just say it?”

Virgil stayed silent, thinking about what exactly he was going to answer. He had to be careful about his words.

“It’s not that we don’t want to tell you. We just can’t. The reason why has to do with what we can’t tell you. And those… things are also ‘dangerous’...”

Thomas sighed as he looked down. He was disappointed by the answer, but not completely. Now he knew that they couldn’t say anything. Something was holding them back. What that something was, was the cause of them not being able to talk. And that thing, was hiding.

“Thank you, Virgil. That was actually helpful. Now, the final question,” Thomas turned to Logan, “what were you doing in the Underground? You told me you couldn’t answer truthfully and to wait. What was that about?”

“That was not the ‘Underground’. That was your subconscious. I was there to ta-” Logan’s’ mouth shut. He was saying too much. “Let me rephrase that. I was there to… deal with a few disturbances. I still can't provide you with all the necessary information, but that was the main reason. If in the future you’re still curious, ask me again once this issue is solved.”

Thomas sighed, “yeah I guess you’re right-”

“Obviously.”

“We’ll have to…” The room began to move. It looked like everything was melting and mixing together at Thomas’s feet. The sides melted like candles, dripping down into nothing. The colors of the room blended together, turning everything black. Thomas stood there alone in the darkness. No sound could be heard. Nothing could be seen.

Roman’s story made its way back into his mind. The dark. The broken throne. Blood dripping from his hands.

Fear was beginning to take over, but he could feel his body resting on something soft and comfortable. His eyes were closed and there was an enormous amount of pain in his head that made him anchor back to the present. Thomas tried to open his eyes but the light in the room was too much for him. Instead of fighting with his body, he decided to rest for a few more minutes. Allowing himself to get used to his surroundings.

Once Thomas was able to open his eyes a bit more, he saw a man standing by the window, blocking out the sunlight. His figure was blurry, and Thomas couldn’t make out the mans’ face. All he could see was the other’s eyes. Two different colors. A cold stare that was being directed at Thomas. Those eyes slightly closed, as if he were smiling.

When Thomas rubbed his eyes, trying to make himself see better, the man was gone. The sunlight was coming back into the empty room. He thought that maybe what he saw was because of the headache.

Nothing bad.

 

Nothing dangerous.


	8. Honest?

A healer was sitting next to Thomas’s bed when he woke up. Observing him. The healer asked Thomas how he was feeling, both mentally and physically. Thomas claimed he was alright and that he was more than ready to get to work. He had already wasted most of the day looking for a part of himself and passed out once he found it. If Thomas didn’t get to work soon, he’ll be drowning in papers. Something he was way too familiar with and extremely disliked.

Once Thomas was deemed healthy enough, he went to his study. And as he expected there were already piles of papers to finish. The kingdom was still small, meaning that there weren’t many people in the castle which lead to Thomas doing most of the work himself. The ones who would normally take the positions of past kings’ helpers, were gone. Thomas didn’t want to waste time trying to find people who escaped from their duties. After all, he knew what the job required. Doing extra work for a while until they found suitable people wouldn’t hurt. 

“It wouldn’t hurt but it will surely tire you out,” Patton appeared next to were Thomas was sitting.

Thomas screamed and jumped out of his chair, “Patton, I wasn’t expecting you. Do you need anything?”

“Yeah, I need you to not do things you don’t have to. This is a lot of work and it’ll take a lot of time and energy to finish it. Find people to do it instead.” Patton suggested.

“Thomas can’t do that. It will only waste time and money that we don’t have. We had to pay a huge debt and now we barely have any resources to get by.” Logan popped up on the other side of Thomas.

“Well, he can always pay them later. Thomas is an honest person so I’m sure that he’ll be true to his word.”

Virgil then appeared, sitting on the desk. “What if things go downhill? How will he be able to pay those people if there is nothing to pay them with. Also, if we bring more people to the castle, our food and drinks will run out way more quickly leading to everyone blaming Thomas for not being able to handle things then he’ll feel guilty about everything and step down as king, leaving the kingdom without a leader.”

Patton sighed, “Virgil, that won’t happen because Thomas will do the impossible to make sure it doesn’t. I’ll make sure of that.”

“You mean I will,” Roman popped up. “I’m in charge of maintaining his honor and pride! So, if we do go that route, I’ll make sure that Thomas will be true to his word!”

“That’s right! A prince like you will never allow Thomas to let anyone down!” Patton exclaimed.

Roman smiled widely, quietly agreeing to what Patton said. Thomas’s honor meant everything to him. Roman would go to hell and back if he had to!

“Okay it’s nice to have you all here, but I really need to work. There is no one to do all of this at the moment so, can we have this conversation some other time?” Thomas sat back down and began working again. He hoped that ignoring them would make them leave and that did happen.

Kind of.

Patton was still standing next to him, even when the others left. Thomas could feel his stare. So intense that he wondered for a minute if it was an actual person standing beside him. Thomas tried to focus on the papers and letters, but Patton continued to stare intently at him. Completely frozen. As if he was waiting for Thomas to finally break and acknowledge him. And when Thomas turned and faced him, Patton smiled, looking smug for an instant.

“Is there anything else you want to say?” Thomas asked.

“You don’t always have to listen to them you know,” Patton whispered, his voice slightly lower than before. “They do mean the best for you and they might claim that they are right and what you want it wrong, but you’re the one who is in control here. Do what you think is best, Thomas. You don’t have to listen to me either. Disappear and start a new life in the mountains. Be the greatest king this land has ever had. You know what’s best for you. I’ll keep you safe from anything that might harm you. Even if that something is yourself. Your mind,” Patton walked in front of Thomas and lead down, resting his palms on the desk and closing in on him, “or your feelings. In return, I ask of you to never lie to yourself. Lie to the gods and goddesses if you want, but not yourself.”

In a blink of an eye, Patton disappeared. Thomas was left alone thinking over what Patton had said. He never thought that the happy full of sunshine side would ever say something like that. Don’t listen to any of the sides and do whatever he wants. Lie all he wants but be honest to himself. To do as he pleased. That could bring so many bad things, but at the same time, it could be good. For the most part, he’s always done what Virgil and Patton have told him to. There were times where he regretted doing so. It would sometimes lead to heartbreak or losing friends.

Thomas would have to think things through but right now, he had to get some work done.

 

At the end of the night, Thomas had finished most of his work. He was exhausted and could barely keep his eyes open. Patton was right. There was no way Thomas would be able to handle that amount of work by himself. It was way too much for one person to handle. He would have to start searching for people soon, but first he had to get enough money for that.

Once Thomas was alone in his room and completely sure no one would disturb him, he called Logan and Patton.

Patton laughed as he popped up. “Hey Thomas! Need something?”

“Yes, what seems to be the issue, Thomas?” Logan said.

“Oh, no. There isn’t really an issue. I just wanted to plan a few things out with you guys. More specifically, what we talked about earlier.”

Patton tilted his head, “what did we talk about?”

“Patton, you were there. How can you not remember? It was a few hours ago.” Logan stated.

Thomas agreed with Logan, saying the same thing as him, but Patton was still confused. Even after they explained what they discussed about, trying to make him remember, Patton was still jumbled.

Logan, being Thomas’s logical side, was trying to figure out why Patton didn’t remember a thing. Maybe he hit his head or was still very tired when the conversation started that morning. He was acting differently. A lot calmer and quieter, unlike his usual self.

“Thomas, could you excuse us for just a moment?”

“Uh well… Alright just don’t take too long. I’m sure you’re all tired as well.”

Logan nodded and sunk out, making Patton follow him to the Palace.

“I need you to answer me honestly,” Logan said, “where were you this morning when Thomas was working?”

Patton took a moment to think. “I was in my room. I tried to pop up, but I kept hitting my head with the ceiling. When I tried opening my door it wouldn’t budge. I was stuck there, and it took me a while before I could get it to open.”

“You aren’t lying, are you?”

He gasped, “I would never! Not intentionally at least.”

Logan pondered for a moment. “There are only two sides that could keep you trapped: Virgil and -” his hand slapped against his own mouth.

That was enough for Patton to figure out who it was.

“Are we going to tell Thomas?”

“No. Even if we tried, he won’t allow us. Let’s just keep this to ourselves until he reveals himself.”

The two went back up to where Thomas was. He greeted them with a smile before speaking, “alright so about earlier, both of you were right. I can’t handle everything on my own and I need to hire other people to do it but first I’ll need to make a lot more money. I was planning on making a deal with the neighboring kingdom. They reached out to me and asked if I was willing to trade some fabrics in exchange for gold. It still wouldn’t be enough, but we could invest it and gather more high-quality fabrics. I’ll hire the people that I need when I finally have enough money or maybe even a little bit before I do. What do you guys think?”

“I… I think it’s good,” Logan said, “but let’s go over more detail’s tomorrow. You need to rest in order to function properly.”

“I agree with you and Logan! You need to sleep Thomas; I’ll tell Roman to make some good and fun dreams for you!” Patton said before him and Logan left.

Thomas smiled and laid in bed, thinking of all the things yet to come. He was slowly getting used to this life. It wasn’t as bad as he thought. It was time to stop whining and make the kingdom prosper. Thomas was going to make sure to leave a mark in the world.

 

A hopefully positive mark.


	9. Who? Who?

The day had been a busy one. Having a pile of work to do in the early morning, sealing a deal with another king, and listening to the concerns of the people took a lot of energy. Especially having to come up with solutions on the spot.

Thomas didn’t want to make a wrong decision and with Virgil constantly telling him everything that could go wrong, wasn’t helping at all. And to add to that, Patton also didn’t want to disappoint anyone. Roman was coming up with solutions, that were impossible to do, and Logan was debunking Romans ideas while trying to come up with his own. So, in short, it had been a very long day.

Thomas went to his study to think over a few things. Some of the problems had been easier to solve, but there were some that needed a little more planning. To the people who had such problems, Thomas had told them to come back in three days, in order to come up with a proper solution. He had already figured most of them with the help of the sides, but there was one that they had a difficult time with.

A young woman asked Thomas to punish the murderer of her parents. The catch is, the person who she claims is the murderer, isn’t. Thomas had his soldiers investigate further and found out that the ‘murderer’ was with a prostitute the night that the woman’s parents died. Based on what the neighbors said; the two of them had been in a relationship but broke up because the woman found out the man was cheating on her. And the girl’s parents didn’t own any money to anyone, and everyone seemed to like the couple. Their close friends said that they never fought with other people and would try to avoid it if they could.

“So, is the girl the one who killed her parents?” Virgil asked, “It makes sense if you think about it. She wanted to get revenge on the guy, so she blamed her parent’s death on him.”

“Yes, that’s one possibility, but would she go as far as killing her own parents for revenge?” Logan said.

“Maybe she isn’t the culprit. It was one of the neighbors who killed them! They were honest people who never picked a fight with anyone and it’s not all that realistic to think that everyone liked them. Maybe a past lover was the one who did it,” Roman added on.

“I don’t think she did it. Murdering your own family is horrible! Maybe it was someone else…” Patton sat on a chair, putting his knees to his chest.

“Alright, if she isn’t the murder and the guy isn’t either, then who could it be?” Thomas asked.

They all stayed silent until Virgil spoke, “I don’t know but it’s kind of messed up isn’t it? She’s blaming someone out of spite and letting the one who is responsible to get away with it.”

“We need more information,” Logan said getting back on topic. Talking about how ‘messed up’ it may be won’t help. “The list of culprits are the people in that area. The murder could have been a stranger or a close friend for all that we know.”

“What about a close friend? I don’t think they would have let a stranger in their house, no matter how nice they were,” Roman pointed out. 

Patton shook his head. “But the person could have pretended to be injured, or something like that. The couple would have most likely helped them.”

They continued to go back and forth for an hour before they all decided to take a break. They came up with possibilities and what ifs but that would get them nowhere. Another investigation had to happen, again.

Once the sun had set, Thomas went back to his room. He had been tired of planning everything out and only to come up with no concrete answer. Should he be focusing on just that? No, but out of all the problems he had to solve, this one was the easiest.

“Murder… Not something I thought I would ever have to deal with directly.”

Thomas laid on the bed. When he closed his eyes, an image of a knife impaled into a person’s back flashed before him. Blood was dripping from the clothing while the person moved about, trying to hold themselves up.

“What the hell?” Thomas sat right back up; eyes wide. “What was that about? I need to get some rest. This whole murder thing is really getting to me.”

“Thomas what was that?!”

Thomas screamed and jumped back and once he saw that Virgil was the one who spoke, he became even more unsettled. He knew Virgil would never let go of that thought.

“I… I don’t know I just want to rest so can you-?”

“Thomas, you just saw someone dying!”

He sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to sleep at all tonight.

 

Dead-tired, Thomas started the day like usual again, only this time around, he was more in the astral plane than on earth. Virgil didn’t leave all night and Patton joined him soon after. They were both unsettled and tried to distract Thomas so that he wouldn’t think of it again, but his mind would wander. The image getting more and more detailed, which didn’t help Virgil and Patton calm down at all. So, Thomas spent most of the night working on what he had pushed aside that day. Logan quickly appeared and helped Thomas work while some-what distracting him from those unwanted thoughts. In the end, he only got three hours of sleep before he was woken up by the sunlight.

Virgil was a lot more quieter and Patton was able to relax. Last night thoughts were a blur and Thomas refused to let his mind wonder. Not matter what. If working until the next day’s sunrise appeared worked, then he was going to do so. Logan and Patton would try to stop him, but Patton did say to listen to himself.

 _Well, first things first: I have to go over the reports from yesterday’s investigation_. Thomas headed to his office. He could already hear the others reaction towards the case again.

Thoughts started to swirl in his head. Why had the couple been murdered? Who could have done it?

_Hatred._

_Their daughter._

Thomas ignored those thoughts. How could their daughter have such intense hatred towards them? Was it because of their ‘perfect’ relationship? Were they not so nice after all? Could she have possibly gone as far as killing her own parents?

His thought process was cut when he hit his head against the office door. Logan and Virgil had clearly been distracted by Thomas’s thoughts.

Once he was seated in his office, the four sides appeared. Virgil sitting at the edge of his desk on the left side. Logan standing on his right, looking  over his shoulder. Roman was seated in one of the chairs located in front of Thomas’s desk and Patton stood next to him.

There was a file on the counter. Thomas opened it and read it out loud for them to hear.

“Bodies found by their daughter, Lilith, around midnight. The father was stabbed twice in the chest and the mother once through her head. No one saw anyone entering the house before the incident. Lilith wasn’t covered in blood and her clothes were free from stains. Lilith claims she was in her room when the murder happened,” Thomas sighed and continued to read, “the neighborhood got along, and the couple were free from debt. Lilith is also free from debt. No additional information was found.”

Logan examined the words on the paper. He looked closer and reread it over again. Virgil walked over to Logan’s side and read it with him.

“Lilith did it,” both the sides said. There was absolutely no doubt in their voices.

Patton looked over with a disbelieving look. How could Lilith murder her own parents?

“Let us explain,” Virgil started, “no one was seen entering the house meaning that the murder was already in. Lilith knows how to get in without being seen. I mean, she’s lived there for years, right?”

Logan nodded. “Even if someone did see her, there would be no reason to suspect Lilith because she lives there and she’s also their daughter.”

“She might have been envious of her parent’s relationship and killed them. That also gave her a way to get revenge on the guy that cheated on her,” Roman added on.

“Was it envy though?” Patton questioned quietly.

Logan raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? Do you think there might be another reason?”

Patton shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to say it. The thought alone was making him sad.

“What if they weren’t the nicest people towards her? Sure, they were nice to everyone else, but people are different behind closed doors. Could it be that, she got tired of it and…snapped? Maybe she doesn’t even remember doing it and thought it was her ex. That could be a possibility…right?”

They all thought for a moment, going over what Patton had suggested. If what he said was true, then that would complicate things. What would be the right course of action? Would punishing Lilith be fair or would sending her to a healer work out? All of this was causing a headache, and it seemed like Patton felt it too.

The moral one sat down on the chair next to Roman, resting his head on his hands.

“What a headache, or should I say… heartache?” He burst out laughing, which only made the pain more present.

Virgil went to Patton’s side, his worry obvious like pain on the others face.

“I’ll take him down. This situation has been making him feel like a dump. Be back later,” and with that, the two sides left.

Roman, on the other hand was a lot more confused than worried. Thomas looked completely fine and he wasn’t faking it this time around, so why would Patton be going through pain. Physical pain, at that.

Logan didn’t move from where he was standing, and he didn’t seem fazed by this occurrence. That was typical for the know-it-all, but he seemed, colder, detached even.

Roman spoke up, “Thomas, you good? I know this has been taking a toll on you, but I didn’t think it was bad enough to directly affect one of us.”

Thomas nodded, “I’m okay. The thought of her parents doing things that would lead her to murder obviously has me overwhelmed. Plus, the lack of sleep must really be getting to me,” he turned away from Roman and Logan. Was the lack of sleep the only thing contributing to his headache?

“Make sure to sleep well tonight and drink water. Dehydration might also be the cause for that almost migraine,” Logan said. “For now, I suggest we figure out what shall be done, regarding this case.”

Thomas decided to interview Lilith directly. Maybe the guards scared her, and she thought they would kill her on the spot. Either way he had to inform her the upcoming day so that this process could go by quicker and hopefully, these troubling emotions could come to a halt.

Walking down the castle’s corridor, Thomas headed to his room.  

Thoughts of murder plague his mind. Stabs to the chest and the other on the head. The things that must have occurred to Lilith for her to succumb to such actions. Was it her parents’ actions towards her? Rage that came from the infidelity of her ex-boyfriend?

Or something else.

Was she always inclined to death? More specifically, other people’s death? Looking for an excuse to finally make fantasies into reality. Was anyone twisted enough for that? Maybe she was tired of having to deal with her parent’s shit. Maybe they did treat her like less than a living being and more like dirt. She was at her limit. That night was the last night that they would treat her in such a way. And she was going to make sure of it.

Or could it be the opposite scenario?

Lilith’s parents were kind, respectful people. Did she get tired of that instead? They were poor. Making just enough to make it through the week, so could that be it? She took her anger out on the fact that they never did anything to change. Stepping over people, deceiving, taking advantage of people or situations. They were too kind for her liking, and she was suffering for their actions. She was the one living in a piss poor house surrounded by others alike. They got into an agreement about what was right and wrong. Lilith, not agreeing with them, decided she would take matters into her own hands.

Thomas would know what to do soon enough. Talking with Lilith in private, face to face, will give him a clear idea of what to do in this case. Whether a punishment had to be put in place. Or if help had to be handed to Lilith.

How would Thomas know if she did it and couldn’t remember?

How would he act if he were the one to murder?

 

How would Thomas think and act if he committed murder and couldn’t remember it?

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I've had this idea for a while so with the release of the new video I just said fuck it and went for it. Updates will be irregular for a little while because I'm still stocking up in chapters so just bear with me until I have enough content ready. Anyways thanks for reading!!


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